The Walk in the Park Job
by another.maggie
Summary: This is based on a podcast in which Aldis Hodge implied that the season finale of season 6 could have been the abduction of Hardison and Parker's secret love child. First chapters are mostly H/P, but we'll have the team later on. We'll also have Hardison's Nana, but only if you want. So, please tell me. :)
1. becoming a parent

**I do not own Leverage. If I would, it'd be renewed for 6th season already.**

Everyone deals differently with the issue of becoming a parent. Some freak out and think they can't do it. Some are so thrilled they tell every stranger about it. Some are worried they'll loose the baby so they try not to bond with their baby too soon. Some are pissed off by parents, friends and family telling them what to do.

For Hardison and Parker it was different.

They hadn't planned on it. They had only had sex once back then. They didn't expect anything to happen. But it turned out something had happened. And soon after their first time (and for a while last time) of making love to eachother they found themselves sitting in a bathroom of some russian hotel waiting for the results of the one way pregnancy test.

Hardison pointed at the instruction paper in his hands. Parker was holding the pregnancy test. "Good thing English is the international language, huh", he joked trying to lighten the mood. Parker just shrugged.

"How long does it say that takes again", she asked for the third time at least.

"Three minutes", Hardison replied patiently, "Results should come back soon."

Parker nodded biting her lower lip. It wasn't hard to tell how nervous she was. She was moving her legs, arms and hands all at once. She changed her position every 10.5 seconds. Jittery her eyes moved up to him and then back to the test afraid she would miss the results.

"Parker, relax", the hacker tried putting his hand on her knee in order to calm her. "It's gonna be fine, 'right?"

She looked up at him, but she didn't say anything. She didn't nod nor did she shake her head. She didn't react and her eyes were still frightened.

Internal he cursed himself for not have the talk first. She wanted the test first, he wanted to talk first. Sadly, he just couldn't say no to her.

The talk would have been better. He was sure about that by now. If he had already assured her he wasn't going to leave her whatever would happen; if she could be sure noting would happen. She could be rest assured right now, but due to him always giving in she isn't. Instead of that she's at the same time waiting for the results to show and at the same time she doesn't want to know it.

Hardison hated himself at this moment. He was happy when the results showed up.

"Two stripes", Parker told him right as they appeared.

The hacker checked. Double checked. Triple checked...

"What does it say?"

He knew he had to tell her or else she would hyperventilate or something as nervous as she was.

"Positive", he said.

**R&R would be great! I know this is pretty short, but I'll promise to have longer chapters later on... if you want to read it.**


	2. what's in a name

**I do not own Leverage.**

Against expectation Parker didn't want to keep the baby's gender a surprise. It turned out she wasn't patient in this one like she was with Christmas. She was five months pregnant when her current gynecologist asked them if they wanted to know their babys gender. They moved monthly or even more often. Always copying the files their actual gynecologist had. There was a lot of manipulation. Everyone they came to thought they had visited one before not fifteen.

Fife months in pregnancy they lived in Idaho. Parker didn't like Idaho much so they'd leave soon. Still she'd never get rid off the connection. Idaho would always be the place they learned about their babys gender.

That afternoon the young couple returned hand in hand and with big smiles on their faces to their current living place. They took over empty, lately renovated houses featuring furniture. It wasn't that big of a deal; Hardison just hacked the brokers so that they thought the house was sold. When they left he would redo this action and the brokers would be left confused. That wasn't meant to be forever, though. Just until they'd decide to stay somewhere. Right now it was just too dangerous.

If anyone found out about their baby... None of them really wanted to know what would happen to the baby.

Parker cracked the lock, whether they had the keys. She was so happy she just wouldn't stop smiling. After she had first struggled with the decision to keep the baby and raise it as theirs she now seemed as if she'd regret if she'd done anything else.

They went to the living room / dining room / kitchen. It was opened and big. Parker really liked that. Hardison went to the fridge to get the pizza they had already prepared. Oven-ready meals were out of question for Parker even though none of them was that big of a cook.

"So... a girl", Hardison broke the silence. Parker was sitting on the couch watching TV though she didn't seem to listen. As he said it she quickly turned towards him.

"I bet Eliot will guard her like gold. Sophie will buy her a lot of stupid clothes, but I think I wouldn't even mind that so much..."

He smiled and then cleared his throat. "So... you think it's time to discuss baby names?"

Parker stood up and walked over. She leaned against the counter and looked him deep into the chocolate brown eyes. "You know what?" A mischiveous smile covered her fair face. "I've already found the perfect name for her."

**Yes, I'm sorry. It's short again. I changed my mind. The pregnancy will be featured in one-shots, so there will be a couple more short chapters. But I'll try to make it up to you. I'll create a poll and you can chose the name of their baby. :) Thoughts would be nice, though.**


	3. stay

**Unfortunately, I do not own Leverage.**

**Thanks goes to my beta, CLVayaella7, for betaing my story**

Despite their occupation, the two decided to stay in one state after the baby was born. Still this made Parker a little jumpy. A little worried, maybe. "I think it's a bad idea" she stated one day. The hacker blinked his eyes in surprise; he thought it wasn't up for discussion anymore. "We can't be sure the FBI doesn't find us in Portland, just because it's far away from Boston. I know its Oregon, but...we would never feel safe." The thief shrugged.

"We can never be sure that the FBI won't trace us wherever we go. They might be checking our mailboxes right as we're talking."

Parker rolled her blue eyes, making him smile. "You're exaggerating, Alec."

"Nu-uh, I'm not." He looked her in the eyes. His face is so serious that it made her tremble. "You're the most famous thief in the world. Anyone would try to catch you. Bet they'd even give the agent who catches you, a medal for his great success."

Parker blinked. She had never thought about it that way. They remained in silence for some minutes until she decided to say something. "But I've kind of retired. I mean I've been honest. I didn't steal anything in years...well, nothing relevant. I'm more and more becoming a legend. How would they know I'm real?"

The hacker surprised her, by walking over and pulling her into a hug and kissing her. "You feel real now?"

She smiled shyly. "I guess I do."

**R&R would be great. =)**


	4. start wearing purple

**I do not own Leverage, sadly. This one's even shorter than the last one, sadly.**

In Parker's eyes Alaska was the right choice. Actually it was the only place she'd consider herself, but the hacker didn't like it much. When they traveled through Alaska it was still winter. While Parker didn't care about the negative 22 degree weather, Hardison was the complete opposite. "It's freezing cold" he complained "hell, I think I'm losing my toes!"

They wandered through some little city looking for a place to spend the night. Parker still fought against morning sickness, but she felt better being outside than spending the day throwing darts at Sterling's face in Lucille. "I think that's a risk you can take" Parker told him sweetly while wandering through her own perfect Winter Wonderland. "We don't have many chances to find Santa, you know. We should really take this opportunity."

The hacker sighed. "Parker, you do know that we won't find Santa in Juneau?"

"Well it's more likely we'd find him at the North Pole, you didn't want to go there." Parker sulked, this really bothered her.

"You're pregnant."

"So? The doctor said everything would be fine. I'm healthy enough for a hundert trips. Now, let's go find Santa."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's go." Would he ever win a battle against his beloved thief?

**Let me know your thoughts =)**


	5. secret

**A/N: I am totally in Leverage mode since the first book just arrived. It isn't extraordinary IMO, but I still love it. It's Leverage. This scene takes place after "The White Rabbit Job"**  
**About the baby girl talking - she only says a few words, one to be exact. I started talking before I turned one year old, so I guess anyone else could, too. But I know not every baby does. My brother didn't speak before his third birthday.**

"I can't believe we're not visiting for her first birthday", Parker said after Hardison had their safety double checked. They had just finished one job, which left everyone in their own uncomfortable positions. Their nerves were raw. But especially Parker was pretty worn out.

That guy... He made her think about Nick and she really didn't like thinking about her late brother.

And now they couldn't even see their daughter, because of a hell lot of reasons.  
Firstly, Nana had called and told them about the newest adventure of their young daughter's life. Apparently, Gemma had caught the chickenpox. This wouldn't have been a problem, though, if it wasn't for Parker, who never had them. Still, they decided to go.  
But then Nate came along already talking about the next job and that they would have to start the next day. They tried, of course. Asked, whether they could take a day off. That in turn got Nate suspicious and since they couldn't name the real reason for their demand, he rejected.  
Last but not least they had spent the whole day planning the new con - alone, of course. And whenever they even thought about calling their daughter someone discomfitted them with stopping by.

Now, it was already 7 p.m. and there was no guarantee that their girl wasn't asleep already.

"She won't get her presents until the day after tomorrow, neither", Alec mumbled being just as annoyed as Parker was.

"We should just go", she proposed vaguely.

"Nate would be mad", the hacker pointed out, while he was busy working on his material. He always had them skyping via the big screen so that they'd see as much of their daughter as possible. She didn't seem to stop growing, lately. One day she wouldn't be fitting onto the screens anymore, her legs being cut off by the camera.

"Probably." Parker shrugged. "I wouldn't care."

Alec gave a sceptical look. "Sure."

"Really! I mean... Gemma's our daughter. We should put her first", the thief said jumping off her seat. Aw, no. Those 'right-from-wrong'-issues she had lately, ridiculous. The hacker definitely blamed Sophie for even making his girl think that way.

"And if you'd caught the chickenpox we would have had to explain where they came from", Alec interjected, "We would have had to tell them everything and they would've hated us. They'd kicked us out and someone would've killed us eventually, leaving our daughter an orphan. End of the story."

Parker pouted, but she didn't answer anymore as she saw him calling.

The call was answered and Nana as well as Gemma appeared on the screen. Parker was beaming ear to ear at the sight of her daughter.

"Hello, dears. I was just going to put birthday girl into her crib. You got us in time", Nana said.

"Yeah, we're really sorry. We had work to do." Alec gestured towards the board with their site plan. As long as Nana didn't recognize what it was really for he didn't mind her seeing.

Nana shrugged it off. "Well, I guess she'll be awake eitherway. Itching is giving us a hard time."

Alec looked at his Nana's tired eyes. He was worried. He knew she took good care of Gemma, but sometimes he just wished they could be there. Most of the time, actually. Gemma was definitely giving Nana a hard time, even without chickenpox. At the same time she was her grandmother's delight. The last foster kids were sent away, because the agency considered Nana "too old". The whole house was empty. The hacker knew she didn't feel comfortable there.

But Gemma was a little baby. She was demanding and loud and exploring and everything. Never mind her sickness.

"I promise, we'll come by after the next job is finished", the hacker told her.

"That would be great, my dear. I'm gonna get little Gem seated and clean up the dishes. Gives you ten minutes before she's gotta go to bed."

"Thank you so much, Nana", Parker said. She was smiling. While Nana put Gemma into her high chair the thief sneaked over to her boyfriend.

"I miss her so much", she whispered so that Nana wouldn't hear. They hadn't seen her face-to-face in three months. Quite a time.

"We'll visit her next week", the hacker replied confidently.

"You sure Nate'll let us go?"

"Well, if not, we're just going. I think Nana needs some help, too."

"I'll leave her with you, darlings", they heard Nana say.

Parker looked up at the screen. Her daughter reached out with one of her tiny hands.

Gemma Hardison was a fragile baby. She almost lost all of her baby fat already. With her light hair, skin and eyes she looked like a little angel. Especially her amazingly long, light eyelashes left quite an impression on everyone, who saw her.

"Hey, Gem-Gem", Alec greeted his baby girl beaming just like his girlfriend by that time.

Gemma laughed and scratched at the bandage upon her hand.

"Oh, baby girl, I wouldn't do that. It'll only hurt you", Parker said, though she knew this wouldn't stop Gemma from anything.

"Anyways, we gotta tell you something", the young hacker told his daughter seriously. He cleared his throat and begun: "One year ago you joined us. You were pretty small and pretty fair. You wouldn't cry when you got outta your Momma's womb and we were constantly told that something wasn't right, but no one ever told us, what the actual point was."

Gemma gave a giggle and tried to reach her Mommy's hair, which, of course, she couldn't. Though she was used to those skype conversations almost on a daily basis, she was still an infant, a baby. She didn't realize that they weren't there.

"We didn't care though. And see, what you've done, pretty girl. Now you're already one year old. How does that sound?"

In this second the door flew open. Turning around to see, who interrupted, Alec didn't turn the screen off.

"Don't worry. I just left ma... what's that?" Eliot was pointing to the screen, of course.

"We're looking at baby pictures... and er... videos", Parker explained.

Eliot furrowed his brow. "Ah. So this is you?"

"Yeah, this is me", Parker nodded her head maybe a little too convinced.

Gemma in turn reached forward and tried to reach the screen.

"Momma..." She didn't say that for the first time. And it wasn't bad, because Parker could've said the same as she was a baby.

Eliot's face turned blank, while Gemma tried to get the attention back. Alec stopped the skype conversation with two clicks and flipped to another file with pictures in it.

Alec quickly opened a picture of him and his Nana, when he was seven.

"See? Just some baby pictures." He gave a weak smile.

The hacker sat down.

"So... this girl was you?"

Parker nodded. "Yeah, totally."

"And why did the calender on the wall say 2012?"

Obviously, their secret wasn't gonna be a secret anymore.


	6. why

**A/N: Just thought I'd upload... :)**

"You have a what?!"

Parker flinched at the reaction of her semi-father. It remembered her of the reason why she immediately agreed with her boyfriend to not tell the team. Of course, they hadn't reckoned with Eliot.

Talking was hopeless. He didn't even give them a chance to explain themselves. The only thing they were allowed to do was taking the phone and call Nate and Sophie. Period.

"I'm not talking", he'd said, though Parker was begging him with eyes and voice. "If you'll 'explain'" He made double quotes with his fingers, "You'll better explain it to all of us."

And now that they did they didn't feel any better.

Hardison was squeezing Parker's hand as he noticed her reaction. She couldn't even look them straight in the eye. Seeing Nate like this made her heart bleed.

"We've a daughter and she's one year old today", Hardison repeated his voice sober and firm. He had to be strong where Parker couldn't be. He had to be someone she could lean onto and he knew that. The suggestion of not telling them was his. He knew she'd thought about it, but she would've never suggested it in the first place. This was their burden, but over the half of it was caused by him.

"One year?! And you didn't bother telling us about her for one year?" Nate was practically yelling, while Parker started to hide more and more behind her boyfriend. She couldn't take it, not at all. "Stop that, Parker! You can't hide away from consequences forever", the mastermind snapped outrageously.

Parker whimpered and stepped back to Hardison's side. The hacker was indignant. "Seriously? You don't yell at her like that! Else y'all just going out of here. It's still our place!"

"And you're still in this team if you haven't realized. And in a team you do not keep secrets like that", Nate screamed.

The thief was sobbing now, but she was biting her lower lip in order to hide her damn tears. She felt horrible for being so weak. It was her fault, too, but she just couldn't stand father figures, people she secretly adored, yelling at her. The accusations were overwhelming. It went from selfishness, over irresponsebility to faithlessness. Too much.

"Stop it Nate", Sophie interjected, her voice pretty calm. "Can't you see you got Parker crying?"

"She better be sorry", Nate growled.

"NATE! We didn't even give them any time to explain themselves", Sophie said. She seemed pretty mature, yet the hacker and thief could her she was heartbroken. Parker had longed to tell her. Especially in some situations... but she just couldn't. Gemma's safety was so important. Nothing else mattered.

"Thank you, Sophie", Hardison murmured.

"Better be some damn good reasons", Eliot mumbled. He hadn't said much since he caught them in the act.

Hardison sighed. "May we sit down?"

"No", Nate replied harshly.

"C'mon, Nate. How bad can it be?"

Nate nodded, but his glare. If looks could kill...

Luckily for them they couldn't. Hardison sat down Parker next to him. She didn't let go of his hand not yet. And she didn't look up to face Nate. Presumably better this way.  
Hardison got his free hand on the keyboard and started hitting it quite furiously.

"What are you doing", Eliot asked.

"You want reasons. I want to give you reasons", the hacker explained. He entered the password that secured all the pictures and files he had featuring his family. From ultrasounds to birth certificate. Everything was there. Photos appeared on the screens. The hacker started a slideshow.

The first photograph was stunning. It showed Parker at seven months. She was beaming ear to ear. Glee was drawn all over her face. Guardingly, she held the little bump she had. It never really grew any bigger since month five.

But that wasn't the picture he was going to show them. He went back to the data so he wouldn't have to skip a thousand of pregnancy photos. Quickly, he entered some numberes and found what he was looking for. He opened the picture.

"That's why", he told them.

It was a medical report. Parker and Hardison had seen it many times before when they walked into a doctor's office with their child. And they'd seen it in different styles. Some doctor's preferred bold letters, others liked italic. But it always said the same.

Diagnosis: Unknown sickness causing albinism and seizures

"She's sick", Sophie asked. Everyone had their eyes somewhere in the room so they wouldn't have to face Nate. Unknown sickness. Hadn't he heard the same about Sam so many times?

"Yeah. No one really knows why, though", Hardison trailed off, "We've been to a hundered of office, really, and they all told us they didn't know. And then, back in Chicago, there was a doctor, who has dealed with a similar case before."

"Dr. Jenkins could help her. She gives her some therapy and now her seizures are down to one in four days. She formerly had at least three seizures a day", Parker explained her voice still trembling from tears.

"We had to let her with my Nana in Chicago. She gets her medicine and no one will harm her", the hacker went on.

"But... that's no reason. You could've told us about her. We could've lived in Chicago", Sophie tried to investigate. She wasn't taking this whole thing as easy as she'd loved to.

"No, they couldn't", Nate said surprising them all. "Remember we had to leave Boston? We could've been forced to leave Chicago and what would've been left for us except for taking her with us. In time someone would've recognized that there's a baby here."

"Babies are an easy target to track down...", Eliot mumbled in deep thought.

"She needs her doctor", Hardison added. "Dr. Jenkins told us that in case she finds the lesion she could try to make the seizures stop forever."

"If someone knew about us having a child", Parker shot a lost and sad look at Hardison, "Kidnapping would be one of the nicest things that could happen to her."

They all sat in silence for a while all thinking about the just gained information.

"You could've told us, though", Nate said. He took his jacket and went away without another word.

And finally, the thief let a tear slip.


End file.
